This invention relates generally to padded covers used to enclose bed side rails. More particularly this invention relates to bed-rails used to improve the comfort and safety of patients in long-term care facilities. Generally, long-term care patients have more fragile bones and skin. Therefore, they generally require greater protection than is provided by standard hospital bed-rail protective coverings. Prior art has generally focused on ease of access for the nurse or doctor as well as on standardizing the shape of covers. U.S. Pat. No. 3,742,530 (Clark) exhibits a bed-rail cover of plastic or quilted cotton. Clark does not seem to be designed for a movable bed-rail. The configuration does not give adequate protection to a patient entering or exiting the bed-rail side of the bed, with the bed-rail in the down position. The side of the bed-rail which faces out is left generally exposed. This could likely prove hazardous to patients having to be quickly removed from the bed. The outside of the bed-rail would need to be padded for ingress as well as egress of a patient under long-term care.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,544 (Mahoney) describes a bed-rail cover which exhibits the possibility of hard spots which may injure a patient while she gets in or out of the bed. Also, limbs may be flayed against the railing during seizures or `fits`. The potential for injury as a result of impacting a `hard spot` increases as bones become more fragile with time. Fragile bones may be due to decreasing bone density associated with aging, for instance. `Hard spots` are places where a hard substance is felt beneath the protective covering, or where there is no covering, and may lead to injuries to patients with fragile bones.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,545 (Arp) uses pre-formed pipe insulation covered by plastic with a zipper fastener. The Arp design exhibits too many `edges` which may injure a fragile patient; `edges` being any sharp side which may cause lacerations or abrasions to sensitive skin. Arp does not employ, nor suggest, non-abrasive coverings. Nonabrasive coverings would be beneficial in reducing scrapes and `edge` injuries.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,025 (Hunsinger, et al.) displays a slip cover having a portion facing the bed interior padded with a removable bolster to inhibit tossing and turning towards the rail. This design leaves possible hard spots along the railing edge as well as impedes the ability for rapid lowering of the rail in the event of an emergency. Hunsinger seems more appropriate to preventing small children or infants from falling through bed-rails or between a bed-rail and a mattress than use with a long term care patient.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,550 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,897 (Marra, Jr.) teach a bed-rail cover system which includes a bed-rail and cover positionable over a bed-rail framework. This additionally includes equipment housing means disposed within the cover. This may provide a convenient access to control equipment, but it increases the risk of injury from hard spots or edges particularly to patients of long-term care patients. The design also does not suggest adaptation to a movable bed-rail.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,450,641 (Montgomery) is an inflatable sheet with elongated strips to provide padding. This may be acceptable for short-term occasional use (the Montgomery specification refers to ease of storage when the rail guard is not in use). This is not acceptable for long-term patient care; it lacks durability and exhibits the potential for too many hard spots as can be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4 of Montgomery.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,557,817 (Haddock) provides a protective cover for removable placement over bed-rails of a hospital bed. An objective of Haddock is to provide a cover of a standardized size. Haddock is trying to overcome use of a long cover which would require the hospital to carry short as well as long covers. Haddock designs a cover for a half bed-rail which accomplishes the objective of a standardized cover. But, the standardized cover comes at the expense of it being less suitable for long-term patient care which employs full-length bed-rails. For long rails, or full-length bed-rails, Haddock requires axially aligning the covers and affixing the fastener strips of one cover to the fastener strips of the other cover. (See FIG. 5) As can be seen from FIG. 4 or FIG. 5 of Haddock, there exists the possibility of `edge` injury from fasteners when employing a two-cover arrangement. `Poke-through` is also possible. `Poke-through` is the condition of a limb or digit poking through a gap between abutting covers, or sticking out between a bed-rail and a mattress. Because patients of certain illnesses will exhibit, often times intense, thrashing of their limbs, a durable soft protective cover is needed, not a two-piece arrangement with gaps and fasteners facing the interior of the bed.
What is needed, then, is a bed-rail protective cover to provide a safe environment for the recipient of long-term care. The device must protect the patient from `hard spots,` or spots where the hardness of the rail would injure the patient. This `edge` injury, that is injuries due to the skin being abraded, bruised or lacerated on an edge of the cover or fastener must be avoided. Protection from `hard spots` and `edges` should be maintained during egress and ingress to the bed as well as when the patient is in the bed. The covering must reduce risk of `poke-through,` that is, a limb or digit being caught between the mattress and the cover or through the cover itself. The covering should soft, well padded, nonabrasive, cleanable, and should be moisture resistant. The protective cover must not impede rapid lowering of bed-rails. The covering should be quickly and easily attachable and detachable.